


Apples and Earl Grey Tea

by Tiguidou (JohnnyEgbert)



Category: Dear Evan Hansen, Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, only a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 19:58:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10646988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JohnnyEgbert/pseuds/Tiguidou
Summary: Zoe should've ordered to-go but she didn't think things through and now here she was, searching for an empty seat in a busy café.Alana was supposed to be meeting an acquaintance for lunch, but she was stood up. Now here she was, sitting alone, no doubt being judged by everyone else in this busy café.So when a cute girl asks if she can sit at Alana's table, how can she say no?





	Apples and Earl Grey Tea

Alana tapped her foot impatiently as she resisted the urge to check her phone for probably the twentieth time in the thirty minutes she’d been sitting there. She looked around at all the other patrons in the café and felt extremely self-conscious. Could they all tell she’d been stood up? Would they all see her sitting alone at a table for two, furiously checking her phone, and assume that she didn’t have any friends?

_No, of course not,_ Alana told herself, _it’s perfectly reasonable for an independent young woman to go out for lunch alone. There’s nothing wrong with being confident enough to enjoy spending time with yourself._

She could hear the clinking of glassware, the soft indie music playing in the background, and the distinct hum of conversation as she looked around her. Someone laughed in a booth to her right and she bit her lip. Finally, she gave in and checked her phone again.

Still nothing.

Alana sighed in frustration and set her phone back down on the table. She was supposed to be meeting a girl, someone named Emily, from her journalism club for lunch. She had submitted an article detailing a recent protest on campus about tuition prices, but it was riddled with inconsistencies and grammatical errors. As the editor, it was Alana’s job to help her improve her skills. Not to mention the fact that anything they printed would be under Alana’s name. They needed to keep their standards high, she had a reputation to uphold, after all.

They had planned to meet at 12:30 at the coffee shop across the street from campus, but it was currently, she checked her watch, 12:57 and there was no sign of Emily. She was really starting to wish they’d decided on a different coffee shop, frankly, because it was full of students studying or having fun with their friends and Alana was just sitting there alone and it was so _embarrassing_.

_It’s not embarrassing, Alana, it’s perfectly normal. Unexpected things come up all the time, everyone knows that. No one thinks it’s your fault that your friend, or acquaintance rather, didn’t show up. No one thinks you’re sitting alone because you don’t have any friends._

She really wished she’d at least brought a textbook or some study materials so she could pretend that she’d planned to come alone. So she could pretend that she was only there because this particular café had the perfect study atmosphere.  

Alana opened her text conversation with Emily, just in case she had responded and Alana just hadn’t received the notification.

**Alana (sent at 11:54 pm):** We’re still on for lunch today right?

**Alana (sent at 12:23 pm):** Hey! Just letting you know that I’m already here, I grabbed a table so just look for me when you walk in!

**Alana (sent at 12:37 pm):** I haven’t seen you, are you on your way?

She locked her phone again and stared down at the table, completely at a loss.

Finally, she stood up to order something. She knew people would probably think she was strange for eating alone but at least it would give her something to do with her hands. Besides, she’d been waiting for half an hour now and she was starving.

_I mean I already walked all the way here_ , she reasoned, _and it_ is _lunch time._

And anyway, the girl behind the counter had been throwing skeptical glances her way for twenty minutes, no doubt wondering if she was ever going to order anything. She _had_ to order something now. It was only the polite thing to do.

She walked up closer to the counter to get a better look at the menu. She had no idea what she wanted, but the barista was still staring at her with something like annoyance on her face so she tried to think quickly.

Alana really hated drinking coffee, she was jittery and wired enough as it stood, so she ordered an Earl Grey tea with milk. Something about a warm cup of tea made her feel all cozy and nice inside and she could really use something to lift her spirits right now. As for the food, she really couldn’t decide and the barista was _definitely_ getting angry now so Alana ordered something that sounded like a chicken panini? Honestly, she wasn’t really sure.

She walked back to her table and pulled out her phone. Once her food arrived it’d be okay, but for now she needed something to focus her attention on. As much as _she_ knew that eating by yourself was totally fine, she wasn’t sure everyone _else_ knew that and she decided she’d much prefer to not have to make eye contact with people as they walked by her.

She scrolled through her Facebook newsfeed absently, looking at everything her acquaintances were experiencing and accomplishing.

_Melissa from that hospital volunteering I did won a research grant? Shit I didn’t even think to_ apply _for those, I wonder if it’s too late? Or maybe I can start looking for next year? I would need to write a –_

_Oh_ man _, Olivia’s backpacking around Europe right now? I’ve never been to Europe. I bet that’ll make her seem so worldly and well-rounded to employers I –_

_What? Chris from high school got a job at Google? He’s only a year older than me and I’m just at college doing nothing, how –_

“Your Earl Grey tea and chicken pesto sandwich,” the barista placed the food on the table gently, looking a lot less annoyed at Alana now, “enjoy!” She smiled as she walked off, and Alana couldn’t help but feel guilty and think that maybe she’d never really been annoyed? Maybe Alana had just been imagining it the entire time.

She picked up her tea and blew on it exactly five times, because otherwise she could burn her tongue and throat and she wouldn’t be able to talk properly for days and that would mean she wouldn’t be able to do presentations or participate in class discussions and it could really affect her grades and she just. Didn’t want that to happen.

Alana took a sip of her tea and smiled as she felt the warmth course through her. She attempted to place the mug down carefully, then almost dropped it when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She managed to avoid spilling any tea, but when she looked up to see who had tapped her she was blushing out of embarrassment at the mishap.

Looking down at her was a girl with messy brown hair and big blue eyes. She was gripping the straps of her backpack with both hands the way a primary schooler would and Alana couldn’t help but think about how _cute_ that was.

“Oh! I’m sorry” she said, her eyebrows knitting in worry, “I didn’t mean to startle you!”

Alana’s usually constant inner monologue went blank and it felt like her tongue couldn’t form any words at all, so she just sat there with her heart thumping way too quickly in her chest, staring. She looked at the girl’s cuffed boyfriend jeans and white button-up and felt her cheeks getting hotter and hotter and her lips stretch uncontrollably into a small smile.

“So, it’s really busy in here and I forgot to look for a table before I told them I didn’t need my order to-go, and I was wondering if I could sit here?” she said after a moment, smiling sheepishly at Alana, “it’s the only seat left, but if someone’s sitting here that’s totally cool I can –”

“No no, of course you can sit here!” replied Alana quickly, probably too quickly, and she cringed a little at the eagerness in her voice. She was definitely way too gay for this and wasn’t thinking properly but it’s not like Emily was going to show up anyway.

_This has absolutely nothing to do with how cute she is, I’m just doing what anyone would do,_ she told herself, _No one was sitting here and she needed a seat, so I let her have the seat. It’s totally not because of the tiny hand drawn stars on the cuffs of her jeans or the way her tangled hair frames her face or how her nail polish looks like little galaxies or –_

“My name’s Zoe, by the way,” she said, smiling. Her eyes crinkled and her face lit up and Alana couldn’t help but feel a rush of warmth inside when she saw it.

“I’m Alana!” she said a beat too late. She wasn’t sure if she should make conversation, but she didn’t want to stop hearing Zoe’s voice and seeing her face glow when she smiled. “Are you a student here?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m studying –” she paused, then her face broke out into yet another amazing smile as she seemed to have an idea, “hey what if we guess each other’s majors? It can be like, a game.”

Zoe’s smile was infectious and she seemed so excited, so Alana couldn’t help but to smile back.

“Okay,” replied Alana, “I think you’re studying some kind of Humanities or Liberal Arts? Like English or Philosophy or… History? I think it’s History. I have an uncle who was a History major in college and he never lets us live it down, he always brings up facts about World War 2 and the Vietnam war, it’s all he ever talks about! I’ve never heard someone talk so much about war, even when I volunteered at the Veteran’s Centre, and they were all actually _there_ ,” then she coughed, feeling embarrassed and self-conscious about having let herself ramble on. “Anyway, you seem like you’d be the type to be passionate about something like that,” she finished lamely, mentally kicking herself for being so annoying, but then she heard Zoe giggle.

It wasn’t a mean giggle, Alana could tell Zoe wasn’t laughing at her, and it was honest and infectious and really freaking _adorable_.

“Interesting choice,” she said after a moment, “Now for you, hmm…” she squinted her eyes dramatically and stared at Alana, as if inspecting her, “you look really analytical and stuff so I’d say Business?”

Now it was Alana’s turn to laugh, “No.”

“Political Science?”

“Nope,” she smiled at Zoe mischievously, as if challenging her.

“…Engineering?”

Alana took another sip of her tea, “Biology,” she told her.

“Aw damn,” replied Zoe in a disappointed voice, “I was really far off, wasn’t I?”

Alana just smiled, feeling nice and warm and good all over, and she didn’t think it was just from the tea. “Hey, what about you?” she asked, “you never told me if I was right or not.”

Zoe giggled again and Alana felt her heart skip a beat, “you were wrong, but you seemed so enthusiastic about it that I didn’t want to disappoint you.” The barista arrived with Zoe’s order, handing her a cup of tea and a bowl of mac and cheese. Alana couldn’t help but notice that she’d also ordered Earl Grey.

She must’ve been staring at the food because Zoe started to explain.

“My mom never let me eat gluten,” she said, rolling her eyes, “always going on about how it ruins your digestive system or something? Which I’m sure, as a bio major, you know is totally ridiculous, but anyway when I went away to college I vowed to never control my gluten intake ever again.” She chuckled a little to herself, “so that’s why I came here alone and ordered mac and cheese.”

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t judging your food choices at all!” Alana responded, a little frantically. She really hadn’t been thinking about that at all and she didn’t want Zoe to think she’d been judging her so she tried to explain.

“I just noticed you ordered an Earl Grey tea, I love Earl Grey tea, I ordered one as well actually, it makes me feel like I’m wrapped in a blanket on the couch, and I was just thinking about how interesting it was that you also ordered one.” She made a face, “I’m sorry if that’s a weird thing to say.”

“It’s not weird, I love Earl Grey! It feels like a warm hug,” Zoe said, and she smiled. That sweet, understanding smile that made Alana feel like all of her worries had disappeared.

They settled into a comfortable silent as they both ate their food. Alana’s chicken sandwich thing had been surprisingly good but as she glanced at her cup of tea which was now only about a quarter full, she realized something. She’d gotten her food way before Zoe and so she was done eating. Once she finished her tea, there would be no reason for her to stay. She wanted to keep talking to Zoe, but they weren’t really friends or anything and it would probably be weird to stick around when she had no reason to.

She looked at her tea. She couldn’t just stop drinking it altogether, that’d be the same as if she’d finished it. She picked it up with shaky hands, her mind starting to reel and her heart pumping faster and faster. She took a really small sip, a miniscule sip, trying to figure out a way to extend her conversation with Zoe. As she was placing it back on the table, her unreliable fingers seemed to spasm and she ended up throwing the cup almost across the table.

She watched as the milky liquid sloshed over the table, dripping onto the floor, and when she tore her gaze away she stared in horror at the brown stains forming on Zoe’s shirt.

Zoe stood up quickly and looked back at Alana, who felt frozen in place.

_I just threw my tea at Zoe why would I do that what’s wrong with me she’ll hate me now I could’ve almost had a real friend I need to do something to fix this._

“I…” she said, completely horrified at what she’d just done, “I’m so sorry I really didn’t mean to do that.” She looked up at Zoe, pleading, “is there anything I can do?”

“It’s okay, really,” Zoe’s voice wasn’t as happy or carefree as it had been before, and Alana was so _mad_ at herself for messing up, but she didn’t sound angry either. “I just, have a meeting with a possible faculty advisor later so I should… I should really try to clean up.”

Even now, Zoe seemed way more relaxed and together than Alana ever was, but based on how she’d been earlier, she was definitely a little thrown off. Alana felt burdened with guilt.

_What if I ruin her chance? She had a meeting with a potential faculty advisor what if because of this she doesn’t get the position? It’ll be all my fault why do I always mess everything up so badly?_

“Here, I’ll – let’s go to the washroom, I’ll help you clean up.”

Zoe smiled and followed Alana to the bathroom. It wasn’t the same radiant smile as before, it was forced, probably for Alana’s benefit, and it made her feel even worse because Zoe shouldn’t be trying to comfort _her_ right now.

Alana tried to wipe off the tea with paper towels but it wasn’t really working out too well.

“Here,” said Zoe, after about five minutes of Alana’s failed attempts, stepping into one of the stalls and closing the door, “We need to use the sink. I think it’ll be easier if I just take it off.”

Alana could feel the blush spreading through her face as Zoe handed her the shirt over the top of the stall.

“Sorry I can’t help you,” she called from inside of the stall, “but I kind of don’t have a shirt on.”

“It’s-it’s okay,” Alana said, uncharacteristically flustered. She turned on the tap and placed Zoe’s shirt under running water, sighing in relief when the stain started to come out. She scrubbed diligently, using her hands and the cheap washroom soap, until the stain was no longer visible, then she turned the tap off.

“Are you done?” called Zoe after a moment.

“Yeah, but it’s really wet right now,” Alana replied, “I don’t think you’d want to put it on.” She thought for a second, “I could lend you my hoodie, if you wanted.”

Zoe opened the door a crack, so that her nervous face was poking out. Alana could just see a sliver of her lacy nude bra and she blushed all over again.

“Did you really get the stain out?” Zoe asked in a small voice.  

“Yeah, I mean I think I got it all, here,” Alana picked the shirt up out of the sink, “let me show you.”

She walked closer to the stall and held the shirt up, trying not to look at Zoe too closely because she wasn’t wearing a shirt and Alana thought she might faint.

“Thank you so much,” Zoe said as took the shirt, letting the door swing open a little more.

“I’m really sorry,” said Alana as she stared at the ground. She felt guilty and awful. She _hated_ screwing up.

“Hey,” said Zoe, her voice kind and sweet, “Don’t feel guilty, it wasn’t your fault.”

Suddenly she felt Zoe’s hand on her chin and Zoe’s lips on hers and her eyes widened before fluttering closed. Her right hand reached up and tangled itself in Zoe’s hair just as Zoe’s hands were wrapping around behind Alana’s neck. She smelled like apples and tasted like Earl Grey tea and all Alana could think was that now she had a lot more reasons to like Earl Grey tea and then they were both pulling away, breathing hard and blushing profusely.

“Hey,” Alana said, after a moment, a smile in her voice, “you never did tell me what your major is.”

“Oh,” said Zoe, “you’re right, I never did.” She was giggling and blushing and _still not wearing a shirt_ , Alana noticed, feeling her knees go weak at the realization.

Zoe looked at Alana, smiling that big, radiant smile that made Alana feel like anything was possible, “it’s Astrophysics.”

**Author's Note:**

> To everyone reading Staring Into a Mirror I'm really sorry about posting this instead of a new chapter, sometimes you need a break from the angst, you know?
> 
> Anyway the premise of this is something that actually happened to me, my friend stood me up and then this cute girl asked if she could sit at my table because the café was full, and I said yes and she started hardcore flirting but when I finished my food I freaked out and just left.... I still regret it to this day lmao.
> 
> Oh also Zoe and Alana just seem like science people to me? I'm not sure why (it's probably because I'm a Science major)


End file.
